Ideas getting busier, I need help :(

[Bitter Jeweler]

Then get books, pratctice, and get good with your flash.

 

[shellie]

I actually "went" to a photography school and my personal opinion of the school is not very high. I think they just wanted guinea pigs for the online program they had worked hard to develop and personally I don't think photography is something you can learn in an online course. I was already doing about 75% of what they taught me. I didn't understand how to purposely achieve the images where your subject is in focus and the background is blurry. I now know that it is the aperture and the "blurry" is bokeh. And I do understand what all the dials and buttons and numbers on my camera mean and how to use them. Thanks for your help. Can you recommend any books or maybe online videos?

 

[KmH]

I didn't understand how to purposely achieve the images where your subject is in focus and the background is blurry. I now know that it is the aperture and the "blurry" is bokeh.

Sorry, but that is only part right, and it isn't bokeh, it's depth-of-field (DOF).

Four variables control the DOF. Lens aperture is just one of the 4. The other 3 are the lens focal length, the focus point distance from the camera, and the focal point distance to the background.
Many professional photographers like to use a 200 mm focal length for portraits, because the magnification 200 mm provides makes the out-of-focus (OOF) background elements larger making them seem even more OOF.

Bokeh is not adjustable, in so far as its a property of the lens design that affects the circle of confusion diameter limit (CoC) a lens is capable of producing. The number and shape of the lens aperture blades contributes a lot to the COC a lens produces. Pros look for lenses that have 9, or more, aperture blades, and want those lens aperture blades to be curved with rounded edges.

Bokeh is the visual quality of the blur a lens is capable of delivering. There are 2 types of bokeh. 'Cream Cheese' bokeh is very soft and smooth. 'Hollywood' bokeh is nice round specular highlights.

Nikon's AF 85 mm f/1.4 D lens is nicknamed the "Cream Machine" because of the super smooth, creamy, small diameter limit CoC it produces. Canon's inexpensive EF 50 mm f/1.8 II has very nervous, and jittery looking bokeh considered an example of poor quality bokeh.

 

[shellie]

I was only referring to bokeh and the mane for the blurred area of the image.

 

[katerolla]

I'm sorry did i read this right, you don't know how to use your flash, you avoid booking wedding because of this, you don't know how aperute and lenses works, are you sure you're ready to start a business?

 

[shellie]

Wow this thing really went the wrong direction! Yes I know what aperture is. Yes I know how lenses work. I am not comfortable with my flash but I can work it. Yes, I believe you read this wrong. I choose not to do weddings for several reasons, not because I don't know how to use my flash. The reason I started this thread was to ask for suggestions on how to generate more business.

 

[raffile]

This is a really weird business concept but like Overread said. Lower prices do not always mean more people will come to you. In fact in one of my websites where I sell bracelets and necklaces (nothing to do with photography but bare with me). I was getting about 300 unique visitors a day, I had the lowest prices compared to competitors, and my site was built more professionally I believe. But my sales were SOOOooooo low and I was barley making enough to keep the site up and running. So I tripled sales prices (YES TRIPLED), and did nothing more. The next day I had nearly quadrupled my conversion rate. Now the site is doing quite well.

I really think you need to up your prices. People who do not pay as much for something a.k.a A CHEAP person, will likely be someone who complains the most (in my experience). Also someone who pays a lot for something will think you do much more quality work (in my experience and this has been tested). I also suggest Building a brand name and a unique selling point. All successful businesses have built a successful brands. Example: Apple computers - reliable, barley get any viruses, quality computers.

A "Unique Selling Point" is what sets you aside from someone else. So for you - you don't charge extra for clothing changes. Ok, maybe other photographers do, maybe others do not. But you need to break that down into things that will connect to your customers emotionally. Who cares that you do not charge extra for clothing changes... SO WHAT! - Thats what your customer is thinking... So make a list of your company features and turn them all into benefits! What is it going to do for your customer because, honestly, they don't care about your company, PEOPLE ARE SELFISH.

So example:

Your Company Feature -We don't charge extra for clothing or setting changes
Benefit - You will save money
So what? - You will be able to afford more pictures
So what? - You will be able to enjoy more photos with your family when looking back at that day
So what? - You will be able to spend more time and enjoy laughs with your family when looking back on that day because you were able to take more photos
errrrr.... Ok - we will get our photos from you.

And you just found your "Unique selling point" - We don't charge for clothing or setting changes which save you money and allow you to receive a variety of photos so you can spend quality time with your family and enjoy more laughs when looking back on that day.

These are of coarse bad unique selling points and you probably would want it shorter than that but. I am just trying to help you open your mind to what you need to do. BACK TO BUILDING A BRAND NAME

Ok, im guessing your company name is latham photos - That there is just a name
Now to build your brand name you need to be known for something, and to do this will take some time. But like I was saying apple: known for reliable computers. Google: known for relevant searches.

Find something you can do better than every photographer around you, and either you are better than them at a particular task or you need to get better. So if you need to get better. Best thing to do is learn, practice fail and keep practicing and keep moving forward read books, be the best.

On your website. Your basic contact info should be available right away AT LEAST YOUR NUMBER because people are lazy. And some just want to talk to someone right away and don't want to spend much time on the computer. Everyone is in a hurry so make it available at the enter here page. Some just want a number and you should definitely give them that option.

A missed phone call can be a missed sale which could result in a loss of someone who knows a lot of people who are going to be needing photos taking soon.

Call us: at "Your number"
or enter here (you are giving them options)

Home page - lathamphotos - "We make your photo worth way more than 1000 words"
contact info readily available here too.

Hope this helps - sorry its kind of long let me know if you need any more help

 

[KmH]

I was only referring to bokeh and the mane for the blurred area of the image.

That's the point, bokeh is not the name for the blurred area of an image, and is one of the most mis-used words in photography.

 

[shellie]

Your post was extremely helpful, thank you so much. Thats why I got on here asking for help. I am going to work on all the ideas everyone has given me. I am a little nervous about price raising at this point. I already have a handful of clients who have been returning clients and I am pretty sure I would lose them. I will make a increase at the first of the year for sure. Had anyone used a time restriction on ordering? I tell people they have two weeks to order from the online gallery. A fellow photographer said she sad to implement a fee for not ordering within that set time frame. Has anyone used this? I have had several who have scheduled, had thier session and then never ordered and prints. Thanks again everyone.

KmH, I'm sorry that I have been misusing the word, but that doens't mean that I'm not a photographer or that I'm less intellegent. When I look it up it says it's "the amount, shape and quality of the blur" and "Bokeh is the character of whatever blur is there" I only came to this site to get help from fellow photographers with generating more business.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

You really should be making, at a minimum, $100 an hour. Your sitting fee and print sales need to cover every minute of time you spend with a customer. If you are shooting on location, you need to cover gas and drive time, and set up time. You need to cover the time spent with a customer pre shoot. You need to cover processing time. You need to cover the time spent going over images after the shoot. You don't seem to be including that in your $25 sitting fee, and few bucks for prints. At some point, even though your customersvare giving you money, younarevactually paying them.

You need to calculate every expense you incur. Add up rent, insurance, utilities, gas, vehicle wear and tear, equipment acquisition, supplies, marketing, insurance, your desired salary, PROFIT, etc, and divide that by the average amount your customer spends, which will give you the number of customers you need to have per month to cover it. Also calculate the average time spent with the customer times the number of customers you need, to get an idea of how much time you will be working. Is it a pretty picture?

As far as customers that don't purchase? Well that's a loss. You have to consider that into your expenses as well. There's nothing you can do about it, other than have people prepay for package deals. Cancelations? Non refundable deposits help. The first thing you need to do is raise your prices.

Quality product also matters, and obviously works into the equation for success. How does your product set you apart from the competition? This is the biggest problem I see with people starting businesses while THEY ARE STILL LEARNING THE BASICS of their craft. They are starting at the bottom of the barrel, and have a very long road ahead of them.

Traditionally, before you start your own business, you work for others and learn the craft. You get paid to learn. You learn your craft, and you can learn how businesses run, and all the roses, and all the thorns that come with it. You learn how problems are solved. You learn what works. You learn what you might do differently. THEN you are ready to start a business.

You need to have enough business acumen to recognize problems and react immediately! My business has been open two years next week. After the first exciting year, I realized I had a problem. I wasnt paying myself enough. While I was blinded by paying myself more than my last job, I was making much less per hour and working much more. I immediately started raising my prices. Within a year, I have doubled my hourly labor fee, and upped my markup on parts and supplies. I have continued to post record month, after record month, and haven't lost a single customer. Well except for two that I refuse to do work for. They were time sucks that werent worth the effort. Keep in mind my business is custom design and manufacture of jewelry, and repairs. I started my business in the middle of the recession. Precious metal prices have skyrocketed.

I sell a luxury item that is in all manner, practically useless. Photography is a luxury, but at least it saves important moments in time. Jewelry sparkles, and is essentially a status item.

By putting my time in working for others, and learning the business, just by watching, and listening, and honing my craft, I launched my business at the top. Had I tried opening my own business right out of school, quite frankly, I would have failed. If not, I would have struggled for years. Quality wise, I could have started this 10 years ago, but I found the experience at my last job of eight years invaluable to teach me what NOT to do

.Just something to think about.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Oh, and your website does not read "professional".

I highly recommend working with a branding agent/web designer, to put the best frontnyou can on your business. A branding agent will create a cohesive look for your business, and develop everything from your logo, to your business cards, your flyers, your letterhead to your website. They will work on making sure your site is optimized for web searching and often explain how pay per click search placement advertising works, and how you can set a cap on how much you pay for that.

This will cost between $2000 and $4000. The old adage applies...it takes money to make money. This day and age, your website is the face of your company. When you hand out business cards and flyers, nowadays one of the first things your potential customer does is visit your website. If it looks like a 13 year old put it together, you will possibly instill a feeling of risk. If it looks professionally done, with your absolute best work displayed, you will instill feelings of success, competence, and assurance.

This is something else I learned. Dont try to do everything yourself. Get help. Pay a pro to do what THEY are good at. Do you want to be learning photography, web design, graphic design, accounting, marketing, etc all at the same time? Disastrous!

 

[MTVision]

Oh, and your website does not read "professional".

!

I agree. I saw a bunch of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors on your website. That is a huge no-no. In your specials area you said to "call, txt, or e-mail". Txt isn't a word to adults. Teenagers may think it's a word but it's not. Definitely don't use any slang on your professional page.

If you are going to continue to manage your website I would spell check everything. I make spelling and grammar mistakes but if I see them on a business page - I don't do business with that company.

 

[onelove]

You really should be making, at a minimum, $100 an hour. Your sitting fee and print sales need to cover every minute of time you spend with a customer. If you are shooting on location, you need to cover gas and drive time, and set up time. You need to cover the time spent with a customer pre shoot. You need to cover processing time. You need to cover the time spent going over images after the shoot. You don't seem to be including that in your $25 sitting fee, and few bucks for prints. At some point, even though your customersvare giving you money, younarevactually paying them.

You are right on the money with this. A lifetime ago I was a pro photographer. Someone asked me why I charged so much for something that only takes 1/250 of a second. I told him that besides the hours in the darkroom that went with it, it was also knowing WHICH 1/250 of a second to capture. Time is money.

If your business cannot pay it's own way AND pay you more for your time than working at Mickey D's, then it is a hobby. And that time must include selling, client consultations, the sitting, post processing, delivery, floor sweeping and toilet cleaning.

View your business as if you were a hands-off investor that must pay someone to do all the tasks. Factor that labor cost into your pricing. There will be many times that you don't take a paycheck, but that should be due to re-investing your salary back into the business rather than from not charging enough. You do need to raise your fees. Don't be the cheapest in town. People can already get a cheap portrait at Wallyworld. You just can't do what they do at that price. Why try compete with them?

Be the best and charge like the best. People will pay dearly for something special and they will tell their friends.


You need to have enough business acumen to recognize problems and react immediately! My business has been open two years next week. After the first exciting year, I realized I had a problem. I wasnt paying myself enough. While I was blinded by paying myself more than my last job, I was making much less per hour and working much more. I immediately started raising my prices. Within a year, I have doubled my hourly labor fee, and upped my markup on parts and supplies. I have continued to post record month, after record month, and haven't lost a single customer. Well except for two that I refuse to do work for. They were time sucks that werent worth the effort. Keep in mind my business is custom design and manufacture of jewelry, and repairs. I started my business in the middle of the recession. Precious metal prices have skyrocketed.

I sell a luxury item that is in all manner, practically useless. Photography is a luxury, but at least it saves important moments in time. Jewelry sparkles, and is essentially a status item.

I have been in the jewelry business for the last 30 years. You actually picked a good time to enter the arena. The recession has impacted the jewelry industry harder than most. More than 30% of the existing jewelry businesses (retail, wholesale and manufacturing) in the US have closed over the last few years. That means available marketshare is up for grabs! You are working in the right direction with custom and repair. The days of stocking cases with memo goods are over. Zero inventory custom is the way to go. Talent, technology, intensive customer service and strong community relationships are the keys for an independent to survive against the internet and corporate brand outlets.

By putting my time in working for others, and learning the business, just by watching, and listening, and honing my craft, I launched my business at the top. Had I tried opening my own business right out of school, quite frankly, I would have failed. If not, I would have struggled for years. Quality wise, I could have started this 10 years ago, but I found the experience at my last job of eight years invaluable to teach me what NOT to do

Yep, going to GIA only gave me the tools to begin my real education. It really does not matter what training you get. In business, the only degree that counts is from the University of Hard Knocks. We rarely learn from success, but we should always learn from failures. Unfortunately, experience only comes a few moments after you need it.

ust something to think about.

I am fortunate enough that my business interests not only provide a living, but also give me the opportunity to travel a lot. I am just now starting to get back into photography again after a 35 year hiatus. I have a whole lot of new stuff to learn. But my cameras will be traveling with me from now on. I do intend to make money with my work, but I still consider it as a hobby. Of course starting new businesses is already a hobby for me, so I will apply those skills as well and see if I can tie it all together into travel photography as a retirement business. Maybe be the Anthony Bordain of the jewelry industry and document interesting gem sources around the world from a slightly different perspective.

To Bitter Jeweler and shellie...keep at it, keep learning and pay attention to the speed bumps. Being in business for yourself is one of life's greatest adventures. It is like having a child. At first all it does is eat money and poop out problems. But after a while it stands on it's own and helps around the house. In time it will provide for your future.

Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Most people, when faced with a business "failure" take it personally and go back to working at a job. The true entrepreneur just steps back and says, "Hmmm, that didn't work. I think I'll try this next." And then they go out and try again.

onelove

 

[Tee]

Shellie- if you're open to more feedback, I have a few comments regarding your website. On your homepage you have a slideshow of images but no portfolio or gallery. I like to click right away to see examples rather than watch a whole slideshow. In this case I did because I wanted to offer some critique. You could catergorize your themes (babies, seniors, family, etc) to cater to the clients wants. This is only my personal opinion, but I would scratch the "text me" portion in your contact page. I imagine you're trying to reach the broadest base of clients as possible but aside from hookers, texting for first contact isn't very professional.


Facebook- your FB page is not even close to representing your best work compared to your website slideshow. If a potential client doesn't have a gallery to look at they'll click on your FB page for more examples. It looks like you have some family birthday gatherings meant for close friends to see. You need to have a selection of your best work. That doesn't mean 45 pictures per album, either. Your best work only. Let me say it again - your best work only. If you're going to link FB from your website and use it as a marketing tool, then you need to put the same effort into maintaining your page.

Lastly, you're getting some good advice from the members above. Don't discount the comments regarding flash, bokeh, etc either. You may have been looking for business advice only, but a working knowledge of terms and artifical lighting will boost your business above your current competition.

My $.02

 

[orljustin]

I know this is a lot to read but I will be so grateful to any suggestions you may have. There are so many "photographers" out there now because it seems like everyone who picks up a camera automatically becomes a professional photographer. Please help me!! My plan was to be a photographer as my sole source of income.

If you are allowed to do it, why not them?

I have a speedlite flash and I will admit I am not good with that thing! I tried to get help but all the did was say "this does this, this does this" I avoid indoor weddings and the like because I am afraid to screw up someones wedding pictures because I don't know how to work my flash well.

Sigh. Stick to being a facebook photographer then. Knowing how to correctly use lighting sources is vital to being a qualified photographer.